Ed Rekosh speaks at ICCR’s Spring Conference on an initiative to provide trusted third-party data on company community consultation practices

March 26, 2026

Rights CoLab Co-Founder Ed Rekosh presented at ICCR’s Spring Conference during a session on engagement with the critical minerals sector. Focusing on Indonesia as a case study, he shared an initiative to supply investors with trusted third-party data on company community consultation practices so they can more critically assess corporate due diligence and gain a clearer picture of what communities are experiencing on the ground. The presentation contributed to a broader conversation on the human rights and environmental risks tied to critical minerals extraction and the tools available to support more effective investor engagement.

Joanne Bauer speaks on evaluating effective stakeholder engagement in business and human rights at a UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute webinar

February 20, 2026

Rights CoLab Co-Founder Joanne Bauer participated in a webinar hosted by the UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute titled Evaluating Effective Stakeholder Engagement in Business & Human Rights. Joining Tyler Giannini of Harvard Law and Karin Buhmann of Copenhagen Business School, Joanne introduced Rights CoLab’s Stakeholder Engagement Guide and discussed how investors can use it to assess the quality of companies’ human rights due diligence. The conversation highlighted the continued momentum behind business and human rights standard setting globally and the importance of effective stakeholder engagement as a core component of credible due diligence practice.

Rights CoLab hosts a PRI in Person 2025 side event on the investor case for integrating HREDD into investment practice

November 5, 2025

At PRI in Person 2025, Rights CoLab joined Pacto Global Rede Brasil and ESG Inteligente to host an interactive side event on the investor case for integrating human rights and environmental due diligence into investment practice. The session focused on the financial materiality of HREDD, the Latin American landscape of investor readiness, and the practical tools available to help investors evaluate portfolio company due diligence. It also introduced A Roadmap for Integrating Human Rights into ISSB Standards and gave participants hands-on exposure to the Investor HREDD Precision Tools.

Rights CoLab leads an ICCR Fall Conference table talk on evaluating stakeholder engagement

October 22, 2025

Rights CoLab hosted a table talk at the ICCR Fall Conference on evaluating the quality of corporate engagement with affected stakeholders. Led by Joanne Bauer, Sam Jones, and Silvana Zapata-Ramirez, the session introduced the Stakeholder Engagement Guide through a case study on mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The discussion examined how investors can assess whether company engagement is credible in practice, with Sam bringing particular attention to the conflict-affected and high-risk areas dimension and the need for stronger guidance in these contexts.

Launch of Stakeholder Engagement Guide

June 11, 2025

An investor HREDD precision tool for evaluating meaningful engagement with rights holders within portfolios

June 11, 2025 – Rights CoLab is pleased to announce the launch of the beta version of  Stakeholder Engagement Guide, now available on the Investor HREDD Precision Tools website. The Guide is developed in collaboration with EIRIS Foundation, ESG Inteligente, Heartland Initiative, BSR, and PRI.  

Grounded in authoritative stakeholder engagement frameworks, the Guide introduces four Pillars and seven Effectiveness Criteria to help investors determine whether their portfolio company’s stakeholder engagement practices are robust, reciprocal, and secure. It aims to support investors’ efforts to:

• Identify gaps and opportunities for improving engagement
• Understand how companies integrate stakeholder feedback into their risk management systems
• Evaluate engagement strategies in high-risk or conflict-affected areas

Alongside succinct explanations of each Effectiveness Criterion, the Guide contains questions investors can ask portfolio companies and answers they should look for, as well as sector-specific and worker-specific considerations. 

What’s Next: 

In the coming weeks, Rights CoLab will be announcing Learning & Feedback opportunities for investors to trial the tool. Based on these sessions we will refine the Guide, which we expect to publish in its final form at the end of the year.  

We will also be incorporating additional content from the forthcoming work of other project partners, including  BSR’s guidance on stakeholder engagement in relation to the just transition and PRI’s guidance on direct investor engagement with affected stakeholders.

Also coming soon to the platform is the final version of Certifications Red Flags, featuring a practical checklist to help investors assess the reliability of social certifications. The tool, currently available on the site in beta, helps investors identify red flags and positive indicators in the certification schemes that their portfolio companies use.

The Investor HREDD Precision Tools Project was made possible through the generous support of Generation Foundation; Accountability Accelerator at the Global Commons Alliance, a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; and Humanity United.